Trend Alert: This Fun Photo App Is Taking Over Instagram

This new app that turns your photos into fun, watercolor-inspired masterpieces is taking over social media.

If your Instagram feed is anything like mine, you're seeing the hashtag #waterlogue popping up all over the place attached to some cool-looking, artistic photos. The shots are all coming from Waterlogue ($2.99), an app that transforms your everyday pictures into fun, watercolor-style creations.

I've played around with dozens of photo-editing apps, but this is the first watercolor-inspired one that I feel still captures the essence of the original photo in an artful, fluid manner. In fact, I've liked some of the images I've made so much that I've ordered blowups to decorate my new apartment!

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The app itself is super easy to use: You just select the photo you want from your library or snap a new one, and then choose one of 12 preset filters — each with different color tones or graphical styles. After it "paints" your image, you have the option to further fine-tune it, adjusting the size of the brushstrokes, the brightness, and whether or not you want a border. And depending on your phone, the photo rendering can take anywhere from a few seconds to about a minute and a half.

Some images take to the Waterlogue effects better than others, like floral arrangements, other objects like food and buildings, and even pets. If you try faces, they can come out distorted or too blurry sometimes, but if you tinker with the image, you can usually get to a finished shot you like. Once you've created your image, you can share it on social media (Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Sincerely Postcard), save to your library, open it in another app, or email out to friends by tapping the heart icon.